1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to modular electrical connectors and, in particular, connectors commonly referred to as modular phone receptacles or jacks. The present invention also relates to method of making a modular phone receptacle.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Modular electrical connectors known as modular phone receptacles or jacks have been known in the art for many years. Although connectors of this type were originally designed in the telecommunications industry and, in particular, for telephones, these connectors have found wide acceptance other than for connecting a telephone to a telephone network. Another common use include an input/output (I/O) interface with other communications peripheral equipment.
Modular phone jacks are adapted to receive a conventional modular plug. Thus, the jack has a housing with a plug-receiving socket formed therein to receive the plug. The socket is defined by a plug-receiving opening, opposed top and bottom surfaces joined by opposed side surfaces extending from said opening to join a back surface.
A plurality of stamped, metallic elongated conductors are mounted to the housing in some fashion. Each conductor includes a contact portion at one end extending diagonally into the socket, a lead portion at the other end and an intermediate portion between said contact portion and lead portion.
It is advantageous to form the metallic conductors from flat stock. In this manner a plurality of conductors can be stamped at one time. Two examples of modular phone jacks employing flat stamped metallic conductors are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,292,736 and 4,315,664. Both of these patents disclose a one-piece electric housing having a channels formed in the external surfaces thereof. The channels serve to locate and hold the flat stamped conductors therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,292,736 discloses a method of producing a one-piece modular phone jack. The method generally comprises:
producing the housing as a one-piece molded part,
manufacturing the conductors as a continuous flat metal strip having a carrier strip with spaced-apart groups of conductors extending in side-by-side co-planar relationship, each group containing the number of conductors required for one of said jack assemblies, positioning the housing adjacent one of the groups of conductors so that the intermediate portions thereof are aligned with said holding and positioning means, moving the conductors normally of their axes towards the housing so that the intermediate portions of the conductors cooperate with said holding and positioning means,
bending first end portions of said conductors to form the contact portions, and
bending second end portions of said conductors to form the lead portions.
Sometimes, to achieve greater modularity, it is preferred to produce a two-piece modular phone jack assembly. An example of such an assembly employing flat stamped metallic contacts is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,327,958. Other examples of two-piece designs are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,202,593 and 4,274,691.
Typically, two-piece modular phone jack assemblies include a connector housing having a forward end with the plug receiving opening formed therein, two opposed sidewalls, the internal surfaces thereof defining said socket side surfaces, a top wall joining said sidewalls and a rearward end with a rear opening formed therein. A carrier subassembly is mounted through the rear opening of the housing. The subassembly has a dielectric support member to which the conductors are mounted. Means are provided which cooperate between the housing and subassembly to lock the subassembly to the housing.
Although two-piece assemblies offer some advantages regarding mechanical strength and integrity, it has always been assumed that it is more expensive to manufacture and assemble a two-piece jack assembly as compared with a one-piece jack. This is mainly due to the fact that it is heretofore not been known how to automate such a manufacturing process.